Uttar Pradesh: The making of a Chief Minister

D. Pandey and other UP MLAs at the Tilak Bhavan meeting, Lucknow: slogans for Sanjay

High farce unwound backstage last fortnight as populous Uttar Pradesh, the state which packs the biggest punch in Indian politics, acquired a new chief minister. Khadi-clad actors flitted between Lucknow and Delhi with dizzying rapidity canvassing for Sanjay Gandhi as the state's chief minister.

The proposal, which broke suddenly, never looked like getting off the ground, but Sanjay's youthful supporters persisted even though they
must have known Mrs Gandhi would turn them down. In the process, however, Sanjay's image as an independent leader got a sharp boot. And, having turned him down for the chief minister's job, Mrs Gandhi implicitly set the minimum status for her son: he would hardly be expected to accept anything of a lower stature after this.

But the whole act, as India Today's Correspondent Prabhu Chawla saw from a ringside seat in Lucknow, had other overtones. The elections thrust to the fore the state's Thakur community which has never carried enough clout in the Assembly to give it a Thakur chief minister. The state's politics has been dominated by the small but influential Brahmin community. The Thakurs were determined not to let go of this opportunity to rise to the top. Chawla's report:

ACT I June 2, New Delhi: Two of the principal actors in the Uttar Pradesh chief minister drama which is to be played out in the next seven days, fly into Delhi and check into the Uttar Pradesh state guest house in the capital's exclusive Chanakyapuri area. Sanjay Singh, scion of a landed Thakur family and victor from Amethi in the Assembly elections, installs himself in suite Divendra Pandey.

A Brahmin better known as one of the two men who hijacked an Indian Airlines flight in 1978 demanding Mrs Gandhi's release from jail, sets himself up in room 23. That morning about 80 newly-elected MLAs " arrive. Most of them congregate in the Thakur camp in suite 9 where they are joined by C.P.N. Singh of Padrauna, currently minister of state for defence and trusted lieutenant of the Gandhis, and Vishwanath Pratap Singh, a little-known MP from Allahabad. The Brahmins, fewer in number, move to Pandey's room. Strategies are being drawn to find a new chief minister.

The Thakurs are first off the mark. They call on the Gandhis to congratulate them on the Congress(I)'s dramatic election wins. The Brahmins swing into action next day. Party elders confer, and Pandey calls on yoga teacher and Gandhi confidant Dhirendra Brahmachari. That after noon, June 3, Pandey throws his bombshell.

At a hastily summoned press conference the hijacker who is facing trial announces: "I want Sanjay Gandhi as the chief minister of UP. I will not rest till my leader is made chief minister." Newsmen are served cakes and patties from a nearby five-star hotel. That evening the leading players emplane for Lucknow.

ACT II. June 4, Lucknow: The Thakur MLAs are in conclave at the state guest house reeling from Pandey's lightning strike. They get word that the move is gathering support! Akbar (Dumpy) Ahmed, new MLA from Hardoi and a school-mate of Sanjay Gandhi, has collected around 90 signatures in favour of the Pandey suggestion and is on his way to Delhi. The Thakurs decide to launch their own signature campaign.

Next day C.P.N. Singh flies into Lucknow and a command post is set up in the party's state office. Messengers are despatched, and eventually 283 signatures are collected. "Nobody can now prevent Sanjay Gandhi from becoming chief minister of my state," brags Divendra Pandey on the afternoon of June 5.

But, back at the ranch Mrs Gandhi delivers her thunderclap. She declared emphatically to news agencies that there is no question of Sanjay's moving over to Lucknow. The skies once more darken with more than 30 MLAs winging to Delhi-but she doesn't budge. She nominates Ram Lal Singh, 52, Himachal Pradesh's Thakur chief minister, to go to Lucknow and conduct the legislature party's election of chief minister. Sanjay cancells his planned visit to Lucknow.

ACT III. June 6, Tilak Bhavan,Lucknow: MLAs are milling about noisily, packing the hall to elect their leaders. C.P.N. Singh has flown in with some younger Thakur MLAs and referee Ram Lal in an air force plane, while the Brahmin contingent gets delayed because a bird-strike has delayed the Indian Airlines flight.

At 12.30 the Thakur leaders stride in with C.P.N. Singh and Sanjay Singh in the lead, followed by Veer Bahadur Singh, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Vasudev Singh and Dharam Veer. They take up the front seats. The Brahmins who include aspirant Narayan Dutt Tewari, UP's chief minister during the Emergency and Lokpati Tripathi, Railway Minister Kamlapati Tripathi's son, take up seats at the back. Hijackers Divendra and Bhola Pandey move about in the crowd.

There is confusion, till Ram Lal asks Tripathi to move a resolution. Tripathi begins to read: "This meeting of the Congress(I) legislature party elects Sanjay Gandhi as its leader. " Enthusiastic shouts and cheers interrupt him before he can finish. Cries of "Indira Gandhi zindabad, Sanjay Gandhi zindabad" echo through Tilak Bhavan. Sanjay Singh gets up and seconds the motion, briefly mentioning the second half of the resolution which actually reads: "... If the services of Sanjay Gandhi are not available to the state, we request Shrimati Indira Gandhi to nominate any other person". The resolution is passed with wild acclaim-but some young MLAs object to the second half. " Yeh fraud nahin chalega" (We won't accept this fraud), shouts one. The party hasn't been consulted on the resolution. Suddenly, someone announces that refreshments have been served, and the MLAs and MLCs rush for tea, samosas and cake. Tilak Bhavan is quiet.

Lokpati Tripathi (left) and N.D. Tewari of the Brahmin group: losing out

Some Congress(I) leaders take more interest in making haste for Delhi than in the refreshments. C.P.N. Singh, Sanjay Singh and a clutch of others rush to the Indian air force field at Bakashi-ka-talab and wing their way to the capital. Another 25-odd MLAs, including Ahmed and the two Pandeys, head for Amausi Airport where some other passengers are crossed off to make room for them on the plane to Delhi. "Why don't they run special flights for these performing politicians," grumbles an off-loaded passenger.

Finale Evening of June 6, New Delhi: Many thousand gallons of aviation fuel later, at 1 Safdarjung Road, Mrs Gandhi's residence, the UP leaders go in to present the legislature party's resolution. She calls in the Brahmin lobby led by Kamlapati Tripathi and Tewari and declares her verdict: Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the obscure Thakur MP from Allahabad, will govern in Lucknow. Narayan Dutt Tewari, the Brahmin contender, will join her Cabinet in New Delhi.

"Sanjay is a newly elected MP," she tells her party, "he has to do many important jobs here. I can't spare him." Election or no election, the party dutifully falls in line. After four sleepless days and nights, thousands of kilometres of air travel by scores of MLAs, MPs and ministers, litres of ink in signature campaigns, meetings, conclaves, discussions and negotiations over snacks by the cartload-everybody trots home contentedly, secure that the leader knows best.

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